Iranian People – Freedom Step by Step

Found via Twitter – http://twitter.com/NYkrinDC/status/2327590329
The people will have to get freedom for themselves by themselves. They must wear out the tyrants. They must endure tragedy and atrocity. They can bring over the fence-sitters by morally defeating the fascists, showing grace and persistence with cleverness, shaming-and-embracing the fence sitters This won’t be easy but they can [...]

Free Iran?

Good luck to them. I wish them success.

(Russian) Cyber Militia example

At Danger Room:

A pro-Kremlin youth group has taken responsibility for the network attacks. And that group has a track record of conducting operations on Moscow’s behalf.
Nashi (“Ours”) is the “largest of a handful of youth movements created by Mr. Putin’s Kremlin to fight for the hearts and minds of Russia’s young people in schools, on [...]

“Weaponize Western Culture”

I liked the turn of phrase “Weaponize western culture” that I heard earlier this morning on the 1/26/2008 Covert Radio Podcast. The context (from the accompanying blog entry) was Influence Warfare:
Best stories of the day–Taliban talk radio–used to intimidate and mark for death their enemies…can we not jam it? Can we not counter program  it?? [...]

“Jaish-e-Mohammed leader placed under house arrest”…

…so it is reported in Long War Journal.
Given that it is the ISI that has him under “arrest” and that he is in his own home, I assume his house arrest is similar to when I am under “arrest” by a blizzard and choose to stay cozy in my home while watching TV and ordering [...]

How a Successful US/Iraq 4GW Ends: “Sadr fades into irrelevance”

Hot Air notes:

We couldn’t (or wouldn’t) kill him when he tried to go to war against our military, but Moqtada al-Sadr has all but managed to commit political suicide.  At one time, Sadr commanded tens of thousands of militia members and played kingmaker in national politics.  Now the movement has all but faded as Sadr [...]

Terrorist Attack on India – Notes

I don’t want anybody to think I am not interest becuase  I didn’t blog on. I just didn’t have anything to add. I watched coverage on Fox, streaming coverage from an Indian New Network (via Fox) and blog coverage (especially Shlok and also Zen’s roundup).
Some notes/thoughts
1) How good does a policy of treating terrorism mostly [...]

Death To Pirates (The Economics of Piracy)

It should be simple.
Death to Pirates.
You find them, you kill them. You blow they vessels out of the water or strafe them with .50 caliber machine guns and/or 40mm grenade fire. You set their shore facilities ablaze. You release the video of their destruction on YouTube in two version: straight destruction version, [...]

The Weatherman: “they estimated that they’d have to eliminate 25 million people in these re‑education centers…”

Read about it here at Dr. Sanity.
Some “fun” parts:
Most of the people that had no prior experience, let’s say the average Weatherman, if there is such a thing, they were sent to Cuba for training in Cuba.[...]Grathwohl: I brought up the subject of what’s going to happen after we take over the government. You know, [...]

Interesting Policing Idea (with COIN implications): “The interesting twist is that the authorities are asking the courts to seize the IP of the biker club — specifically, their trademarked name “Mongols”

Found on SlashDot:

…a Federal raid on a California-based motorcycle club, the Mongols, on charges “ranging from murder and robbery to extortion, money laundering, gun trafficking and drug dealing.” The interesting twist is that the authorities are asking the courts to seize the IP of the biker club — specifically, their trademarked name “Mongols.” “Federal agents [...]

“NATO mulls expanded counter-narcotics role in bid to stem growing Afghan violence”

Sigh:
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The United States on Thursday pushed NATO allies to order their troops to target Afghanistan’s thriving heroin trade in a bid to stem the flow of drug money to the widening insurgency against the troubled international military mission.
A two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers comes amid an increase in violence that [...]

The US Can’t depend upon the EuroCore

Georgia and Ukraine should be integrated into the EuroCore.
European States have other ideas:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization won’t give Georgia and Ukraine a road map to membership at a meeting later this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.[...]Mrs. Merkel’s rejection of a NATO track for Georgia and Ukraine, at a news conference with Russian [...]

Interesting idea for an affordable 4GW oriented Air Force…

…here.
I would alter the approach off-hand it only a couple of ways:
1) Build  more new updated A-10 Warthogs2) The Air Force should begin staffing up a  Warrant Officer UAV pilot corps
A-10 Warthog

“They need a Mexican Awakening where the people of mexico follow the model of Hidalgo from 1810 and take their country back”

So says Brent Winterable on this episode of covert radio referencing the past on the possible coming (4GW-ish) narco-driven civil war involving Mexico, the narco-gangs, and inevitably the United States.

Update: Jay@Soob is on this too

I seem to have my very own anti-anti-islamofascist “CAIR” troll…

…in new commenter “subalternate” who is in the Baltimore/Beltway area in reaction to this post.
So is he an officer/employee of CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood member, or just a supporter? This seems to be his blog…and surprise….he is also into Cultural Marxism (Marxism and Islamo-fascism fit well together):
Who cares? He bores me now.
Remember fellow Americans, [...]

CAIR is the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood front

From Pajamasmedia:
SM: Is there a Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.?
Mohamed Habib: I would say yes. There are Muslim Brotherhood members there.
SM: Then what are they doing there?
Mohamed Habib: No, there are already existing institutions; there
are laws and a constitution that they operate under in order to have a
role in serving the American society. They are [...]

Book Notes – “War Nerd by Gary Brecher”

I finished reading “War Nerd” which is collection/bookification (yeah I made up the word) of Gray Brecher’s “War Nerd” web column.
The author is annoying, smug, and geeky.
I quite enjoyed the book. You should buy it. If you start reading it, keep reading.
It is a very readable analysis region-by-region of what is referred to in XGW [...]

Interesting Podcast on Chinese Hackers – “The Dark Visitor #1″…

…is here.
The blog is interesting too.

“Unrestricted Warfare” (URW) and XGW / 4GW / 5GW

I have been meaning to write this for awhile. Zenpundit’s mention of “Unrestricted Warfare” and 4GW/5GW got me to type it:
The ideas from URW haven’t quite made there way into 4GW/5GW…there is a lot of richness in the its ideas. There is more in URW then is in Lind’s 4GW. So, does that make URW [...]

Book Notes: John Poole’s Dragon Days: Time for “Unconventional” Tactics

John Poole’s Dragon Days is mostly about 4GW and a little bit about what I call 5GW (aka SecretWar).
The Interesting points to me where:
- US light infantry should add criminal investigative techniques
- US light infantry should all add real SERE capability so they don’t need 2GW-ish bombardment (with its 4GW blowback) if they get into [...]

Question: Is the correct name for this category “Influence Warfare?”

Is Influence Warfare the correct name for the category that includes the following?
- Strategic Communications
- Public Diplomacy
- Public Affairs
- Psyops/Morale Operations
- White Propaganda
- Black Propaganda
- Political Warfare
- Covert Action to turn (and run) an individual into an agent-in-place or agent-of-influence
- Deception
- Disinformation
- Memetic Engineering
- Positioning
- Brand Management
- FUD
Note:
- I know there is overlap.
- I [...]

I just finshed reading Michael Yon’s new book “Moment of Truth in Iraq”…

…and I really liked it.
The book is 3 things:
- First-rate first-person war reporting
- An account of what is going on tactically in Iraq
- A partial handbook on COIN/4GW and the importance of the non-kinetic activities

I highly recommend it. The PurpleDad is getting my copy.

The (new) US Cyber Security Chief is the Co-author of the “The Starfish And the Spider”

I did not realize this: The newish US Cyber Security Chief (and National Cyber Security Center boss) is Rod Beckstrom who is one of the authors of the interesting COIN/4gw/5gw/network related book The Starfish and the Spider which Arherring blogged about. This could be interesting.

I have been meaning to blog the book. I read it [...]

Bad news from Nepal…

Did anybody not see this coming?
Barely two years after ending an armed insurgency that killed more than 13,000 people, Nepal’s former Maoists rebels have stunned themselves, the Nepalese people, and the world with a landslide win in constituent assembly elections that could profoundly change Nepali politics. [Link: Christian Science Monitor]
I LOL’d at this:
But concerns are [...]

Sadr Lost – Who Knew?

Via the LongWarJournal:
Six days after the Iraqi government launched Operation Knights’ Charge in Basrah against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed Shia terror groups, Muqtada al Sadr, the Leader of the Mahdi Army, has called for his fighters to lay down their weapons and cooperate with Iraqi security forces. Sadr’s call for an end to [...]